Once upon a time...

Once upon a time... 

...the queen bee woke up one morning and decided that today was the day. The day she had been dreaming about for a long, long time. The day she would finally leave the hive and see this beautiful world beyond it.

 

The queen spends her entire life inside the hive, surrounded by endless duties and responsibilities. She never sees the places her workers visit every day. But she had always wondered about the flowers they talked about. So she flew out of the hive and headed toward the Denver Botanic Garden - the place where so much of the hive's sweet honey begins. The first flower that caught her eye was Globe Amaranth, one of the many blooms that produce wonderfully sweet nectar.

She circled above the gardens and soon found herself beside the Monet Pond, where she discovered the flowers her workers were always buzzing around.

She had always known that nectar from different flowers tasted different. She could recognize many flowers simply by the flavor of their honey. But now, seeing the water lilies with her own eyes, she finally understood why her bees returned to them again and again.

She drifted past Sea Holly and landed on a daylily. Another favorite of her workers. She smiled, knowing that such fragrant honey came from such beautiful blooms.

Back at the pond, she circled another water lily...

...and then suddenly stopped in midair. 
There it was.
A lotus.
The famous flower whose nectar was so delicious that no bee could ever resist it.

She also had to admit... it offered a wonderfully convenient landing pad ;)

Back in the air, she spotted another large water lily and headed straight for it... only to discover that the flower was floating below the surface. What a disappointment!

She recognized Black-eyed Susans immediately because her workers brought back plenty of nectar from them. But Wheat Celosia... That one was new to her.

For some reason, she simply couldn't stay away from the pond and soon found herself admiring the water lilies once again.

Then... another lotus. A beautiful pink one this time. It was so stunning that she wanted to stay there forever... but she couldn't... so she simply made a selfie so she can remember it ;)

But curiosity got the better of her. She continued exploring more water lilies...

  ...more daylilies...

  

  ...and every new flower made the journey even more exciting.

...and then another familiar flavor - Hairy Balls Milkweed. This adventure was turning out to be even better than she had imagined.

Yellow strawflowers! Another wonderful source of sweet, fragrant nectar. No wonder they had always been among her favorites.

By now she was getting a little tired. So she began landing on the water lilies for short little breaks. Well... and for a sip of nectar too :)

She loved the white lilies... and the pink-ish ones were wonderful as well.

...and the yellow strawflowers were attractive too...

But the purple water lilies... Those had become her new favorites.

She zigzagged across the gardens, visiting Globe Amaranths, pink lotuses, yellow strawflowers, white lotuses, and purple water lilies. She simply couldn't stop.

There was always another beautiful flower waiting just around the corner.

While circling the pond once more, she returned to the pink lotus and spotted a damselfly resting quietly on the flower stem. She wasn't particularly fond of those insects...

So she politely changed course and landed on a nearby pink water lily instead. After all... pink was a queenly color ;) Lotus or water lily... either suited her.

Eventually, though, it was time to return to her royal duties. She had spent a wonderful morning discovering the world beyond the hive. One last circle around the Monet Pond...

One last look at the flowers... and she flew back home. Now she knew not only how the flowers tasted...but how beautiful they truly were. Even if she never left the hive again, she would always remember that hot summer morning when, for just a little while, she worked side by side with her loyal bees among the flowers.

Thanks ChatGPT for adding some sweet notes to this story ;)

Photos taken on July 25, 2026.